


rust around the rim

by stardustgirl



Series: AU of an AU [11]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: AU of an AU, Angst, Imperial AU, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Drug Use by Minors, Medium Angst, Whumptober, Whumptober 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-08-01 04:53:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16278179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustgirl/pseuds/stardustgirl
Summary: "Saying you’re nobody does nothing to identify what you are to them.  So tell me again: who was interested enough in you that you needed to get offworld?”|~~~|Ezra and Fulcrum's contact get to know each other.





	rust around the rim

**Author's Note:**

> This directly follows "almost treason," starting only moments after the final scene in that twoshot.
> 
> The title is from "Cut My Lip" by Twenty-One Pilots.
> 
> TW: Mentions of Blood, Referenced Drug Use by a Minor

“So, who are you?”

She shot him an irritated glare.  “Didn’t Fulcrum tell you not to ask questions?”

He shrugged, grinning slightly.  “Maybe, maybe not. He said you’d take me somewhere though, so if you won’t tell me who you are, then what about where we’re going?”

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head even as she answered.  “Ring of Kafrene. You should be able to find a ride there.”

“Isn’t that controlled by the Empire right now?  Since before- before Jedha?”

“What place isn’t?” she asked, laughing harshly.  “Even Nar Shadaa’s got a couple IPA kiosks now, from what I’ve heard.”

He raised a brow.  “They’re cracking down  _ there? _ ”

“They’re cracking down  _ everywhere, _ kid.  Don’t get your hopes up.”  She sighed, rubbing her temples as he watched in silence.  Finally she glanced up. “So. Why do you need to get offword?”

“I’m...honestly not sure.”  Sabine’s eyebrows shot up in confusion and he shrugged.  “I was planning on leaving anyway, and then...someone showed up.  K- Fulcrum said I needed to get offworld immediately, before they decided to show interest in me again.”

“Mm.  And who are  _ you? _ ”

He hesitated before answering.  “Nobody,” he said simply. She just laughed, causing him to blink in confusion.

“Ezra, no one’s  _ nobody. _  Sure, we’re all nobody to the Empire, to a certain degree, but saying you’re nobody does nothing to identify what you are to  _ them. _  So tell me again: who was interested enough in you that you needed to get offworld?”

He paused again, finally dropping his eyes from her intense gaze as he looked away.  “I  _ am _ nobody.  I’m just an ICS kid.”

There was a slight intake of breath and he glanced up to see an emotion he couldn’t recognize in her face.  It was a long moment before she spoke again.

“You...they didn’t sell you.”  It wasn’t a question, merely a statement of fact, but Ezra still hesitated again.

“No.”

“And—they didn’t try to sell…?”

He shook his head mutely, gaze still on the floor of the ship.  Beside him, she exhaled slowly, and out of the corner of his eye he saw her push a strand of hair back.

“I’m sorry.”

He glanced up, confused.  “Why?”

“The ways they make you kids earn your keep...it’s horrible.”  Studying her again, Ezra realized that she couldn’t be  _ that _ much older than him, no matter how she implied otherwise.

He shrugged.  “Wasn’t that bad.”  She made a choked noise and he glanced over to see her gaze, full of incredulity, directed at him once again.

“‘Wasn’t that bad?’  Do you even hear yourself?  That was- you were- you were in the ICS.  What did they even make you  _ do? _ ”

He swallowed, eyes flicking away again.  “Drug testing.” He wasn’t particularly proud of it, but he had never been particularly ashamed of it, either.

He wasn’t sure why the thought made him want to avoid her eyes.

“ _ ‘Drug testing?’ _  How- how can you say that so  _ casually?! _ ”

Ezra shrugged again, still not meeting her eyes.  “It was better than everything else they offered. And I don’t want to go into the military.”

She shook her head, muttering something under her breath before falling silent.  He shifted his gaze to the windscreen, watching as hyperspace blurred ahead of them.  Despite the time that had passed since he’d come to, his head was still throbbing and his chest felt like it was in a vise.

Finally Sabine broke the silence again, casting him a quick glance before looking away again, as if she was hesitant about what she was about to ask.  “So you’re like, addicted to spice?”

He shook his head vigorously.  “No. Hate it. At least what I’ve had.”  Considering the topic for another moment, he admitted, “Though they’ve never given me the finished stuff.  Just...the trial runs.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Hurt?” he echoed in confusion.

“The after effects.  Hangovers? You know.”

“Oh.  They’re...annoying.”  He grimaced at the memory of the most recent one, though he had a feeling it had been laced with whatever was in the vial Kallus had given him afterward.

“Annoying?  Just  _ annoying? _  They don’t, I don’t know, give you headaches or whatever?”

“They do.  Sometimes.”

Sabine dropped the subject abruptly, simply nodding before lapsing into silence.  He stared blankly out at the blue streaking lines of hyperspace, thinking about nothing.

A chime on the console sounded a couple of hours later and Sabine sat up, leaning over to check it as Ezra shifted.

“Alright, we’re dropping out in about a half hour.  You got everything?”

“Yeah, just this.”  He raised the vial Kallus had given him and her eyes snapped to it instantly.

“Is that spice?” she asked warily.

“No.  I mean- I don’t think so.  I’m not sure.”

She raised an eyebrow.  “How do you not know?”

“The agent that took me to ICS when my parents disappeared gave it to me.”

“May I see it?”

He hesitated and then nodded, handing it to her.  She examined it before glancing back at him. “You mind if I run a couple tests on it?  To figure out what it is?”

He hesitated again before nodding slowly.  “Sure.” Her eyes lit up and she stood, walking to what he assumed was the med bay.  As she typed in a complicated code, however, he realized his first assumption might have been wrong.

The door opened with a quiet click and he followed her in, trying not to gape as he glanced around the room.

If it had been a med bay, it wasn’t anymore.  The room was lined with cabinets and counters, multiple scientific instruments he didn’t recognize strewn across the counters.  One of the cabinets was labeled “bacta,” but the others were blank, leaving him to wonder as to what they were.

Sabine glanced over her shoulder as she crossed to a counter with a telescopic instrument.  “The  _ Jai’galaar _ doesn’t have a med bay anymore,” she explained in answer to his unspoken question.  “I converted it to this a year ago. I don’t get in combat situations much anymore, so the only thing I really need is extra bacta and a medkit.”

She slid the vial into an opening at the bottom of the telescope-like object, turning a couple disks and pressing something that made the machine hum.

He waited in awkward silence, casting another glance at the bacta cabinet and wondering if he could feasibly steal a patch or two before she noticed.  As he moved to take a step toward it, Sabine made a sudden noise of recognition and he stopped.

“Ezra, come here,” she said in an urgent tone.  He approached, ignoring his headache. She pointed to the instrument and stepped back, folding her arms as he bent to stare through it at the vial.  “Tell me where you got this again?”

All he saw were pale dots moving around in an equally pale substance, nothing else.  He stepped back, glancing at her. “An ISB agent.”

“Do you know what that is?” she asked, pointing to the instrument.

“The dots?”

Sighing, she shook her head.  “It’s...I’m not sure what it is, but I’d suggest getting rid of it.  There’s microbes in there that are extremely similar to a species that destroys platelets, and red blood cells if it’s mutated.  This kind, though….From what I can tell it’s worse. I’d need to put a drop of it into blood to tell for sure.”

His stomach twisted.  Ezra didn’t completely understand what she was talking about, but he had a vague idea.  “So...that’s bad, right?”

She seemed about to sigh before withholding it.  “Yes.”

A beep from the console sounded and the ship lurched briefly, dropping out of hyperspace.  Sabine sighed.

“Looks like we’re here.  But if you don’t mind letting me keep that,” she gestured to the vial, “I’d love to run a couple more tests on it, find out what it is for sure.”

He shrugged.  “I mean, if it’s dangerous...then I’d be getting rid of it anyway.  You’re welcome to it.” She smiled before turning and shutting the machine off, removing the vial as she did so.

“Thanks.  Uh, head up to the cockpit.  I’ll be there in a minute. You got any credits?”

“Why?” he asked, immediately on guard.  Sabine didn’t even turn to look when she answered, still focusing on the machine.

“It’s Kafrene.  No one stays there for long.  And I’m assuming you’ll want to get off it, too.  There’s still a couple places the Empire doesn’t have their hand on completely yet, but Kafrene isn’t one of them.  Was gonna give you a couple.”

“Yeah, a few- a few would be good.”  She nodded distractedly, still shutting everything down before finally straightening, rubbing her shoulder blade.

“Alright, cockpit.  I’ll get you settled, and then we’ll land.”  He was still dazed at the news that he’d basically been poisoned and that she was offering him credits— _ probably just because of letting her keep the vial; no one does things for free. _

He followed her up, sitting in the copilot’s seat again as she fished a few credit bars out of her pocket before depositing them into his hand.

“That good?”

A few more would’ve been nice, but Sabine had already been a lot kinder than he had expected.  And he could always work off part of the passage fee, too. He nodded.

“Yeah, that’s- that’s good.  Great. Thanks.” She just nodded and returned to piloting the freighter.

They were cleared for landing on one of the upper platforms within minutes and she warned him to find his way down to the lower levels as soon as possible.

“Yeah, sure it’s sketchy.  But the IPA doesn’t go down there as much.”  Ezra nodded, standing to leave. He had just started down the ramp when she called to him.

“And, Ezra?  Good luck.”

He glanced back, nodding in thanks before leaving.  Sabine was many things, a source of answers included.

She also gave him cause for more questions than he’d anticipated.

Nearly at the edge of the platform he turned back, about to ask her something.  But the ship was lifting off, thrusters firing as it turned slowly and left the trading post.

He was alone again.

And he was confused.

_ Why did he try to poison me? _

**Author's Note:**

> So I guess this could technically go under the "poisoned" prompt for Whumptober....  
> And the "betrayed" one even though I already did that one....


End file.
